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Powermat PBV01-001-US Travel Mat (Combo Pack)

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Earlier this week I decided to add another component to my Powermat system. This piece will probably stay at my office and travel with me when I go out of town.

I ordered a Powermat Travel Mat Combo Pack. It includes a folding Powermat charging station that can charge three devices at once. It also includes a Powercube kit with additional adapter tips and a Powermat portable battery pack (this is a smaller, cheaper battery that is different from the other device I recently purchased).

Pricing seems to vary. I paid about $30 for the entire kit. Overall, I really like this kit. It has some pros and cons that are worth mentioning.

Pros

The Powermat charging base has buttons that can adjust or enable/disable the charging sound and the charging LEDs, which my other Powermat does not have, but would benefit from. This is a great feature to have so the charging sounds will be less likely to annoy my co-workers. I wish my other charging mat by the bed had this capability.

Cons

It’s not as portable is it may appear in product photos. Even folded up the Powermat base is still bulky. In addition, only the base and the power adapter can fit into the case. There’s no room for a Powercube, additional tips, or the extra battery.

The case seals magnetically. It doesn’t include a zipper so it could open unexpectedly. This isn’t really a major problem since it would probably be in a backpack or suitcase if I’m transporting it.

I’ve found it more difficult to place the iPhone on this charging base. It slides around much easier and the magnets have less grab than with any of my other Powermat bases. It also seems to require that the phone be placed at a slight angle to get it charging. I’m using a newer charging case for my iPhone than the one that came with another kit so I’m not sure if it’s specific to this case. It’s possible the original case will have more “grab” and align easier.

Granted, I’ve listed more cons than pros but overall I’m happy with this purchase. Most of the items I mentioned are minor issues. Perhaps the only thing that surprised me was the bulk of the entire kit.

I went ahead and ordered another Powercube so I can take advantage of all three charging spots, especially when I’m traveling.

Some might wonder why I’m even bothering with this stuff instead of just plugging things in with the power/charging cables they came with. Well, for one this requires only a single wall outlet. When traveling sometimes it’s hard to find an open plug in a hotel room and that can be more of a challenge because I also need to plug in my CPAP before bed.

In the office it will prevent me from having to crawl under my desk to plug something in. I’ve tried using a power strip on top of my desk for a couple of years, but the Powermat works out more conveniently for me since I already have a case for my phone that uses it and the additional Powercubes for other device (and the power strip is kind of ugly anyway).

I’m also not keen on reserving USB ports on a computer just to charge devices.

Updated July 18, 2013: I no longer recommend this device. Most of the Powermat device grab and charge just fine but I’ve had a problem with getting two iPhone 4 and one iPhone 5 charging cases to work with this mat. It’s extremely difficult to get the phone positioned where it will charge – a slight bump can stop the charging process. The phone cases don’t seem to pull into position on this mat but they work just fine with my two-position mat at home.